Pilot and Feasibility Program is a grant from Indiana University School of Medicine's Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases that funds innovative research projects with outstanding potential to advance understanding of diabetes and related metabolic disorders.

The program is open to both new and established investigators from diverse scientific disciplines at Indiana University School of Medicine and affiliated institutions, including IU Indianapolis, IU Bloomington, IU regional campuses, Purdue University, and the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute.

The objective is to foster a community of productive, well-connected researchers and generate preliminary data to support future larger grant applications. Funding amounts vary. Eligible applicants are investigators affiliated with IU School of Medicine or its partner institutions.

Pilot Funding | Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases | IU School of Medicine Pilot and Feasibility Program The Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) program provides funding for projects that have outstanding potential to make an impact in the areas of diabetes and related metabolic disorders.

The program is open to both new and established investigators from the diverse scientific disciplines at Indiana University School of Medicine and its affiliated institutions including Indiana University Indianapolis, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University regional campuses, Purdue University and the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI).

The objective of this program is to foster the development of a community of productive, well-connected investigators whose work leads to advances in the treatment of diabetes and its complications. The P&F program is directed by Jeffrey Elmendorf, PhD , associate professor of cellular and integrative physiology, biochemistry and microbiology.

Pilot and Feasibility awardees Please note that professional affiliations and titles reflect those held at the time of the award.

Sixtus Auguree, PhD , Assistant Professor of Applied Health Science, IU School of Public Health “Metabolic Signatures of Prediabetes: Investigating Iron Dysregulation & Inflammation Pathways Across Adolescence & Adulthood” Anthony Baucum, PhD , Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology & Pharmacology, IU School of Medicine “The Neurabins & Pancreatic Beta Cell Protein Phosphorylation & Function” Erica Cai, PhD , Assistant Investigator, Indiana Biosciences Research Institute "Enhancing Beta Cell Metabolic Fitness to Combat Autoimmunity” Edward Fox, PhD , Associate Professor of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University “Central Vagal Target Neurons That Control Meal Size” Bryant Keirns, PhD , Assistant Professor of Nutrition & Dietetics, Ball State University “Inflammation, Vascular Dysfunction, & Sex-Specific Cardiovascular Risk in “Normal-Weight Obesity” Pierre Dagher, MD , Professor of Medicine, IU School of Medicine “Uncovering the role of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 in diabetic kidney disease” Menghao Huang, PhD, Assistant Research Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, IU School of Medicine “MicroRNA-122 regulates fibrosis by targeting DNMT1 and HDAC5 in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease” Natasha Jaiswal, PhD, Assistant Professor of Health & Kinesiology, Purdue University “Unravelling the mechanism: Elucidating the protective role of acute and chronic heat therapy in preserving lean mass and exercise tolerance in obesity” Fabrizio Pin, PhD, Assistant Professor of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, IU School of Medicine “Deletion of FNDC5/Irisin protects against cancer induced cachexia in a sex dependent manner” Bruno Tesini Roseguini, PhD, Associate Professor of Health & Kinesiology, Purdue University “Home-based heat therapy in older adults with type 2 diabetes” Austin Robinson, PhD, Associate Professor of Kinesiology, IU Bloomington School of Public Health “Examining dietary fiber as a strategy to counteract the negative metabolic effects of high dietary salt” Mithun Sinha, PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, IU School of Medicine “Spatial Transcriptomics Based Identification of Gene Networks in Diabetic Foot Ulcers” Heba Ismail, PhD , Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine "The gut microbiome in children with type 1 diabetes with obesity and novel mechanism of action of metformin" Danielle Janosevic, DO , Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, IU School of Medicine "Kidney sphingolipid composition in diabetic mice predispose to sepsis-associated acute kidney injury" Hyeong-Geug Kim, PhD , Assistant Research Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IU School of Medicine "Protective effects of hepatocyte ATG14 against inflammasome driven pyroposis" Yukiko Kitase, DDS, PhD , Assistant Research Professor of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, IU School of Medicine "The impact of high-fat diet on osteocyte energy metabolism and function" Yao-Ying Ma, MD, PhD , Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, IU School of Medicine "Exploitation of neural strategies to regulate motivation for diabetes self-management" Jason Spaeth, PhD , Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine "Chd4 controls endocrine progenitor cell fate in vivo" Jay Vornhagen, PhD , Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, IU School of Medicine "Assessing the role of type 2 diabetes in klebsiella pneumoniae pathogenesis" Edward Greenfield, PhD , Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, IU School of Medicine "Diabetes/Metabolic syndrome impairs outcomes of orthopaedic implant ifection in mice" Heba Ismail, PhD , Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine "The gut microbiome in children with type 1 diabetes with obesity and novel mechanism of action of metformin" Michael Kalwat, PhD , Assistant Investigator, Indiana Biosciences Institute "Chemical approaches to investigate beta cell function and stress adaptation" Jing Liu, PhD, Assistant Professor of Physics, IUPUI "Developing image based spatial transcriptomics to understand ß cell phenotypes in type 1 diabetes" Jessica Maiers, PhD , Assistant Professor of Medicine, IU School of Medicine "Investigating the role of the immunoproteasome in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis" Nian Wang, PhD , Assistant Professor of Radiology & Imaging Sciences, IU School of Medicine "Whole brain connectivity alterations in metabolic syndrome swine using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging" Scott Canfield, PhD , Assistant Professor of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine "Hyperglycemia-Induced BBB Dysfunction in Alzheimer's Disease" Chad Carroll, PhD , Assistant Professor of Health & Kinesiology, Purdue University "Mechanisms Underlying Poor Tendon Healing with Diabetes" Gregory Henderson, PhD , Assistant Professor or Nutrition Science, Purdue University "Targeting plasma free fatty acids through a novel approach as a potential intervention for insulin resistance" Andrew Templin, PhD , Assistant Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine "Susceptibility of primary islet beta cells to RIPK3-mediated necroptosis" I-Chen Yu, PhD , Assistant Research Professor of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine "Deciphering the molecular crosstalk of obesity-related cerebrovascular dysfunction in vascular cognitive impairment and dementia" Li Zhang, MD, PhD, Assistant Investigator, Indiana Biosciences Research Institute "Suppression of antigen-specific monoclonal antibodies in humanized spontaneous Type 1 diabetes mice" Jonathan Flak, PhD , Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, IU School of Medicine Assistant Investigator, Indiana Biosciences Research Institute Diabetes Center "Identifying the downstream targets from the VMN in blood glucose control."

Kok Lim Kua, MD , Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine "Reg3g as a drug-sensitive target mediating islet dysfunction in offspring of obese mothers" Hyun Cheol Roh, PhD , Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IU School of Medicine "Epigenetic mechanisms of adipocyte cellular identity control during obesity" Uma Sankar, PhD , Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, IU School of Medicine "Harnessing bone-mediated regulation of diabetes" Jason Spaeth, PhD , Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine "Dynamic regulations of Pdx1 activity and beta cell function and identity through the Snd1 coregulator" Jungsu Kim, PhD , Professor, Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, IU School of Medicine Jamie Felton, MD , Assistant Research Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine “Hypoxia-Induced Metabolic Reprogramming in Islet-Infiltrating B Cells” Nana Gletsu Miller, PhD, Associate Professor, Purdue University “Reducing Sugar Intake By Substituting Sparkling Water in Adolescents at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes“ Wenting Wu, PhD , Assistant Research Professor of Medical and Molecular Genetics, IU School of Medicine “Single Cell Transcriptomic Analysis of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Individuals with Recent Onset Type 1 Diabetes” Ashay Bhatwadekar, PhD , Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, IU School of Medicine “Sodium-Glucose Transporter-2 Inhibition in Diabetic Retinopathy” Juhua Luo, MS, PhD , Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, IU Bloomington “Lifestyle and Psychosocial Patterns and Diabetes Incidence “ Zhiyong Tan, PhD , Assistant Research Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, IU School of Medicine “Resurgent Currents in Neuropathic Pain Associated with Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy” Baohua Zhou, PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine “FOXP3 Isoforms and Pathogenesis of Type I Diabetes” Bart Pederson, PhD , Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IU School of Medicine “Does Brain Glycogen Play a Role in Type 3 Diabetes?

” Guoli Dai, PhD , Adjunct Associate Professor, IU School of Medicine “Placenta-Maternal Liver Axis Modulating Maternal Liver Glucose Production during Pregnancy” Ashay Bhatwadekar, PhD , Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, IU School of Medicine “Modulating Circadian Rhythms to Correct Müller Cell Dysfunction in Diabetic Retinopathy” David Boone, PhD , Associate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, IU School of Medicine “A New Role for the Stomach in Control of Obesity” Dipika Gupta, PhD , Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IU School of Medicine “Role of Innate Immunity in Obesity and Metabolic Disease” Hongxia Ren, PhD , Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine “Metabolic Function of Gpr17 in GI Tract” Brady Atwood, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, IU School of Medicine “The impact of high fat, high sugar diet on the dorsal striatum: neuronal behavioral consequences” Nicolas Berbari, PhD , Assistant Professor of Biology, IU Indianapolis “Conditional loss of Rpgrip1I in hyperphagia and obesity” Joseph Bidwell, PhD , Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology, IU School of Medicine “Nmp4 is a novel regulator of beta cell mass and function” Amelia Linnemann, PhD , Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine “Dysregulation of islet IL-6 signaling in Type 2 diabetes” Jacqueline Linnes, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue “Portable, non-invasive monitor that detects glucose from exhaled breath condensates” Hongxia Ren, PhD , Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine “Investigate the peripheral metabolic function of Gpr17” Gregory Anderson, PhD, Associate Professor of Biology, IUPUI “Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Infection in Chronic Diabetic Wounds” Tao Lu, PhD , Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, IU School of Medicine “Role or lysine demethylase FBXL11 in Type 2 diabetes” Emily K.

Sims, MD , Assistant Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology, IU School of Medicine “Circulating Extracellular Vesicle miRNAs as a biomarker of Type 1 Diabetes Development” Sherry L. Voytik-Harbin, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Basic Medical Science, Purdue “Engineering and Islet Bioinstructive Microenvironment for Improved Survival, Function, Protection and Delivery” A. J.

Baucum, II, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology, IUPUI “The role of spinophilin signaling in pancreatic cell function” Jie Sun, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, and Microbiology and Immunology, IU School of Medicine “Obesity and Enhanced Host Susceptibility to Influenza Infection” Wanqing Liu, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue “Role of FADS1 in human hepatic fat accumulation and treatment” Chien-Chi Lin, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, IUPUI “Biomimetic Hydrogel Coating for Enhancing Immuno-isolation of Pancreatic Islet Cells” Seven scientists honored with 2023 P&F Awards for advancing diabetes research Seven scientists from IU School of Medicine have been recognized with 2023 Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) Awards from the Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases (CDMD) at Indiana University School of Medicine, an NIDDK-designated Diabetes Research Center.